Wednesday, August 28, 2013

IT'S THE PROFITS STUPID!

Imagine that! Fast food employees are asking for a raise! No! Not the CEO; his pay tripled without even having to ask:

NEW YORK — McDonald's Corp. more than tripled the pay packages last year for its new CEO Don Thompson and the man he replaced, Jim Skinner.

The pay increases came at a challenging time for the world's biggest hamburger chain. McDonald's is facing intensifying competition, a trend toward healthier eating and weak economic conditions in many countries where it operates.

McDonald's, based in Oak Brook, Ill., gave Thompson a package worth $13.8 million, up from the $4.1 million he received in 2011, according to a regulatory filing made Friday.

Skinner's pay meanwhile rose to $27.7 million from $8.8 million the year before, reflecting a $10.2 million payment as part of his retirement under his contract agreement.

We are talking about the people who actually do the work that makes Mac Donald's what is. Without the "working" people Mac Donald's would be nothing more than a set of Golden Arches with a clown under them. Yet the CEO claims that giving the heart of the company a raise would cut into profits; and it's profits before people, of course. So, here's a novel idea.

How about the CEO (and all those other VIPS who they claim are too big to lose, take a pay cut? Instead of giving one man a $19 million pay raise how about dividing it up among (guess who)?

In a stirring Bloomberg BusinessWeek article, Leslie Patton tells the story of one McDonald's employee. His name is Tyree Johnson. The 44-year-old has worked at the fast food chain for two decades, yet still makes just $8.25 an hour, and doesn't get 40 hours a week of work. So Johnson has jobs at two Chicago McDonald's, scrubbing himself down in the bathroom between shifts, because he may be denied a raise if he smells bad. Twice a month he goes to church food pantries to stock up on cereal, soup and powdered milk.

Johnson would have to work for 1.1 million hours to earn the $8.8 million that McDonald's CEO James Skinner was paid last year. If he worked for 40 hours a week, every week of the year, that would take five centuries.

And the same goes for the rest of these slick cons who skim off most of the profits for themselves rather than sharing them with the folks that made it for them;

Retail And Fast Food: Fast-Growing Industries Opportunity is bright, profits are soaring, and the jobs are horribly paid. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, retail sales employed 4.5 million Americans in 2010, and fast food restaurants employed 2.1 million. The annual salaries for these jobs are $20,990 and $18,070, respectively. And these are no longer part-time jobs for teenagers; the vast majority of workers are in their 20s and older, and many of them are raising families.

Employers Are Organized To Keep Wages LowThe service industry, unlike manufacturing, has very little history of its workers organizing to demand better pay or hours. Restaurant chains, on the other hand, are very organized at keeping pay down. As Patton points out, restaurant chains and their franchisees spent at least $960,000 to fight minimum-wage increases in six states in 2006.

Income Inequality WidensBetween 1978 and 2011, worker compensation grew by 5.7 percent, according to an analysisby the the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank that advocates for lower-wage workers. In the same period, CEO compensation ballooned by 725 percent.

Below is a list of 11 of the biggest fast food and retail chains, along with how long an average low-level employee would need to work to make the amount his or her CEO took home last year. It seems the annual worth of one CEO is now equal to many other human beings' lifetimes.

CEO compensation data are from the companies' most recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Average employee salaries are from Glassdoor.com. The number of years it would take an employee to earn the CEO's compensation is based on working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year.

11. DUNKIN' BRANDS

CEO Nigel Travis' total compensation: $2.0 million

Crew member: $7.83 an hour

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 250,000 hours or 120 years

10. PAPA JOHN'S

CEO John Schnatter's total compensation: $2.7 million.

Average delivery driver salary: $7.19 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 382,000 hours or 184 years.

9. DOLLAR GENERAL

CEO Richard Dreiling's total compensation: $3,832,000.

Average sales associate salary: $7.62 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 503,000 hours or 242 years.

8. BEST BUY

CEO Brian Dunn'stotal compensation: $7.1 million.

Average sales associate salary: $9.73 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 730,000 hours or 350 years.

7. HOME DEPOT

CEO Francis Blake's total compensation: $10.8 million.

Average sales associate salary: $11.47.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 941,000 hours or 452 years.

6. MCDONALD'S

CEO James Skinner's total compensation: $8.8 million.

Average crew member salary: $7.65 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 1.1 million hours or 550 years.

5. CVS CAREMARK CORPORATION

CEO Larry Merlo's: $11.4.

Average cashier salary: $8.86 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 1.3 million hours or 619 years.

4. WALMART

CEO Michael Duke's total compensation: $18.1 million.

Average sales associate salary: $8.84 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 2.1 million hours or 986 years.

3. WENDY'S

CEO Roland Smith's total compensation: $16.5 million.

Average crew member salary: $7.66 an hour.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 2.2 million hours or 1038 years.

2. TARGET

CEO Gregg Steinhafel's total compensation: $19.7 million..

Sales floor team member: $8.29.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 2.4 million hours or 1,143 years.

1. YUM! BRANDS

CEO David Novak's total compensation: $20.4 million.

Average KFC / Pizza Hut / Taco Bell crew member: $7.50.

How long a crew member would have to work to make CEO annual pay: 2.7 million hours or 1,308 years.